Heat oven to 325°F. Generously grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening or cooking spray. Make cake mix as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Pour half of the batter into medium bowl; set aside. Divide the other half of batter equally between 2 small bowls. (You will be left with 3 bowls of batter.) Add red food color to 1 of the small bowls and mix well. Add green food color to the second small bowl and mix well.

Pour half of the white batter from medium bowl into cake pan. Carefully pour red batter over white batter in pan. Carefully pour green batter over red batter. Then pour remaining white batter from medium bowl over the top. Do not mix the colors.

Divide frosting between 2 small microwavable bowls. Microwave 1 bowl on High about 5 to 10 seconds; mix well with spoon until smooth enough to drizzle. With the spoon, drizzle white frosting back and forth around the whole cake in a striping pattern until you use all of the frosting (allow some frosting to drip down onto plate in middle of cake, if desired).

Microwave second bowl of frosting; stir in a few drops of green food color. Drizzle over cake, scattering back and forth in the same type of striping pattern. Decorate with sprinkles. Let stand until frosting is set before serving.

No matter how full I am from eating a meal, 90% of the time, I want dessert. Because that is how roll.

Red Velvet Cake (Top Tier) and Apple Crumb Pie (Lower Tier)

Brother Jimmy’s BBQ is a place that will likely leave you feeling very satisfied after a meal of their ribs, chicken and other specialties – because their food is amazing. But on future visits you might have a more challenging time saying no to one of their home baked sweet treats, because they have just created a New Dessert Menu on which every pie, cake and ice cream creation is delicious. I know, because I tasted everything.

Earlier this week, Brother Jimmy’s hosted a fun Dessert Tasting Party to give bloggers a chance to sample and preview items from the new menu, which also features an original selection of “Boozy Beverage” dessert cocktails. Here are some photos from our sugar-fueled evening.

The Cherry Rhubarb Pie Float contains Rhubarb Tea Liquor, Cheerwine Cherry Soda and Rum Ice Cream. Very sweet and very strong, if you like Dessert but also like to be wasted, this drink is for you!

There are two new pies on the menu. The Pecan Pie tastes as good as it looks, so if you are a fan you are going to love what they serve at Brother Jimmy’s. The Apple Crumb Pie, pictured further up top, is completely delicious and was quite clearly a favorite of many at the event. The crumble top is the perfect sweetness and texture, and the tender crust is loaded with delicious sweet-tart sliced apples. Better than Mom’s!

I am a little bit of a Red Velvet Cake snob but this is the best Red Velvet Cake I’ve ever had. These are just tasting sized cakes but what you’ll get a is a big chunk of three layer cake that is moist and light and frosted to perfection with yummy creamcheese icing.

These are Ice Cream Sandwiches from Melt Bakery, who deliver them directly from their freezer to Brother Jimmy’s. If you’ve ever had an Ice Cream Sandwich from the Coolhaus truck, these are very similar, with a selection of different types of cookies matched with interesting Ice Cream combinations. I had one of the pink ones you see in the above photo, which was a Sugar Cookie stuffed with a Berry Ice Cream.

This is a Brownie Sundae that they made fresh for each of us and brought to our tables after I was already engorged with sweets, so we had no choice but to eat it. The Brownie is served warm and topped with Butterscotch Swirl Ice Cream and Jimmy’s Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce. It was Insane.

These new desserts are price right as well. The Melt Bakery Ice Cream Sandwiches are $5 and all other Desserts are priced at just $7 each. The Boozy Beverages are $7 and $8. Be sure to add one of these delicious desserts or beverages to your next dining experience at any Brother Jimmy’s location, and tell them The Worley Gig sent you!

Delicious Indian food can be found all over Manhattan; from East 6th Street to Curry Hill and elsewhere. But when you really want an unforgettable fine dining experience in the realm of Indian Cuisine, there is no question that the place to come is Junoon. On a previous visit to this Michelin-starred foodie haven on West 24th Street, we were wowed by delicious foods perfectly paired with a variety of wines (wine pairings are a Junoon specialty), gracious, personalized service and the understated opulence of the main dining space. When we paid a long-overdue return visit to Junoon last week, we decided to change up the experience a bit by dining in the Restaurant’s equally gorgeous front room and bar, which is called the Patiala Lounge.

Photo By Gail

Offering the same menu as Junoon but in a more relaxed, intimate (and dimly lit) space, Patiala Lounge provides a variety of seating options. From the room-length bar to high communal tables, clusters of sofas, low tables and side chairs, or suspended, glass topped tables (which were formerly swings) that display a collection of colorful Indian spices and dried flowers, Patiala is an ideal destination for everything from an after work cocktail and light bite to an impressive first date. Chef and Culinary Creative Director Aliya LeeKong along with Executive Chef Vikas Khanna have created a menu with all of your Indian favorites as well as their own special creations.

We were so smitten by numerous delights on the appetizer section of the menu that we opted to forgo main dishes in favor of concentrating on a meal of exotic starters. We started off with specialty cocktail selections including the Star On Earth ($14) a Floral Cocktail of Chardonnay, Maraschino, Pear Brandy and St. Germain with a Star Anise floating on top as a garnish. This is a very sweet and potent drink, as you might guess by the list of ingredients. My dining companion chose one of the featured nonalcoholic cocktails, the Jaswal ($8), a refreshing blend of Cucumber and Lychee Juice with Fresh Lime, Topped With Ginger Beer (the virgin cocktails can be spiked with your choice of alcohol on request).
Here’s what we ordered:

Paneer Pakoras ($12), Generous pieces of Homemade Spiced Paneer lightly fried in a chickpea flour batter and served With Cilantro – Mint – Yoghurt Chutney is amazingly delicious with a nice mix of textures as well as being vegetarian friendly. Junoon makes its paneer in house, and it is the best.

Lahsooni Gobi ($12), Crispy Florets of Cauliflower with Chili Flakes in Garlic Tomato Chutney has a rich and fresh tomato taste and a hint of fire. If you like just a bit of spice but not too much, this dish is a good choice.

A new favorite as of this visit is the Eggplant Chaat ($12) featuring lightly fried sliced Baby Eggplant topped with crispy Red Onions and served with Yoghurt and Tamarind. Chaat, meaning snack, is a name for most Indian street food, and I just wish they had street food this yummy in the US. Seriously, if you are a fan of eggplant, this dish is must try. The sweet fried onions and blend of sauces take it over the top.

Murg Tikka Mirza Hasnu ($14) is a dish of Chicken Thigh pieces marinated in Hung Yoghurt, Junoon Garam Masala and Cheddar Cheese (yes, the cheese is in the marinade) and served with A Tomato and Cucumber Salad. Juicy and very flavorful from its time in the tandoor oven, our waiter suggested we have it prepared with a little extra char on the outside to accent the tenderness of the meat.

Because we were in a tasting mood, we asked for a basket of assorted Indian breads that included traditional Naam, Parartha, Roti and a Junoon Specialty Naan stuffed with Prune and Walnuts, which was divine. Breads are priced from $5 – $8 for a basket generous enough to share.

Normally we would not order three desserts (!), but our server insisted we try a little of everything, it seems, as follows:

If you are a person who, like me, enjoys many different flavors commingling together on one plate, you will flip over the desserts at Patiala Lounge. This is a Chocolate Spice Cake with a light touch of chili powder giving it a little kick. It comes with a buttery tasting ice cream flavored with pistachio and other assorted nuts. Insane.

There are many reasons why Junoon is one of my favorite restaurants – excellent food, beautifully designed interiors, exceptional service – and I can say that when you visit you will be treated to all of these things equally in the Patiala Lounge as you will in the main space of the restaurant.Maybe I’ll see you there.

Patiala Lounge at Junoon Restaurant is located at 27 W. 24th St., New York, NY, 10010 (Between 5th and 6th Avenues). I would recommend that you phone 212-490-2100 for reservations just in case, as it is a pretty popular place (and with good reason)! The extensive menu can be downloaded from their website at Junoon NYC Dot Com.

This past Sunday we made our first visit to Raymi, another one of Richard Sandoval’sgorgeous and amazing restaurants, to dine on an authentic Peruvian feast that is now a regular part of their menu. Available every Sunday and priced very reasonably at just $38 per guest, Sunday Supper, as it’s called, is served family style for easy sharing and offers your party the choice of two appetizers, two main dishes (with appropriate sides) and a choice of one of two desserts (the price of cocktails and soft drinks is not included). Here’s a look at the tempting menu:

Jalea: A mix of bite-sized Fried Seafood including Corvina, Calamari and Shrimp with Salsa Criolla (a popular Peruvian Onion, Pepper & Lime Salsa that you will see on top of several of these dishes) and Peruvian Tartar Sauce

Main Dishes: Choice of 2

Pollo A La Brasa: Brined, marinated and Roasted Chicken served on top of Aji Amarillo Rice with Salsa Criolla and Aji Verde.

Lomo Saltado: A home-style stir fry made with Hanger Steak, Soy Sauce, Red Onion and Cherry Tomato with Crispy Fries meant to be served on top of Jasmine Rice

Whole Fried Fish: Listed as Aji Amarillo on the menu, but the chef told us ours was a Red Snapper, in a light Butter Sauce with Jasmine Rice, Crispy Fried Yuca and Salsa Criolla. The maître d’ will bone the fish table side upon request.

Dessert: Choose 1

Picarones: Small Peruvian Fried Doughnuts resting on Chancaca Honey, a reduced can sugar syrup that tastes mildly of anise.

The awesome photo above was posted on FaceBook over the weekend by my neighbor and friend, Mary. The photograph clearly depicts a festive and inarguably unique dessert prepared by Mary’s mom, which consists of strawberry Jello gelatin dessert studded with delicious Andes chocolate mint candies. Mary says her brother in law nailed it when he described the flavor as being similar to “eating an apple while brushing your teeth.” Eeeexcellent.

When you’ve watched as many cake baking competition shows as I have, you know how hard it is to deliberately make a cake that looks like it’s falling apart, but really isn’t. Check out a screen grab from the original Disney film Sleeping Beauty and you can see that whoever made this cake did a pretty amazing job! Just look at those candles!